Improvement in picket-fences



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

WILLIAM MOST, OF GREENVILLE, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN PlCKET-FENCES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 138,573, dated May 6, 1873; application filed August 12, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM Mosr, of Greenville, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Picket-Fences, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to the class of inclosures known as picket-fences; and it consists in the means by which sections of a fence are joined together and secured to the posts or uprights, and by which the gate is hinged to the same; the object of the invention being to produce a fence cheaper in construction, and which can be more easily erected, than those heretofore used.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 represents a side view, partly in section, of a portion of a fence constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same taken through the line at w of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detail elevation, with portions of the longitudinal bars broken out to show the manner of securing the pickets to the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

A is the fence proper; B, the gate. 0 are the posts of the fence; D, one of those of the gate. E are the pickets, preferably of round iron; and F, the longitudinal bars in which they are inserted. G are jointplates, preferably made of flat bar-iron. H are similar plates, bent on one end, and bored through for the reception of a bolt, 1, with which they constitute the hinges of the gate.

The several sections of the fence I unite in the following manner: I recess the posts 0 on two sides, as at a, to form a socket for the reeeptionof the ends of the bars F, and at the upper or lower part of the recess a I perforate the posts 0 D entirely, making the hole of proper size to receive snugly the plate G when placed on the upper or under surface of two bars, F. The plates G are bored through at proper distances, corresponding with the holes in the bars F, to receive the pickets E. The lower bar F I bore only partially through, forming a socket, c, Fig. 3; and in the upper bar F I drill the holes slightly inclined to the vertical, as at b, Fig. 3, so that in inserting the picket- E it will drop down easily until checked by the lower bar F, when its lower end must be bent or sprung back. It is then driven down by force to enter the socket c. This effects a very strong fastening of the pickets E without the use of nails, screws, or rivets. When thus inserted through the upper bar F, plate G, and into the sockets of the lower bar F on either side of post 0, the pickets E bind the said plate, bars, and post, and thereby two sections of the fence are secured together.

For makin gthe gate-hinges H, I simply bend the ends of the plates G (protruding on the sides of the posts D G, where there are no pickets) double, as at d, and their extreme ends at right angles thereto and parallel with the posts, as at e, the flange e preventing the plates H from sliding back through the posts 0 D, and thus also preventing the severing of the bars F from the said posts. Through the doubled portion d of the hinge-plates are drilled holes, through which, when the hinges of the gate B are hung in position and rest on those of the fence A, a bolt, I, may be inserted, as shown in the drawing, to connect the upper and lower hinges. The bolt I is threaded, and provided with nuts f on either side of one of the hinges, to prevent the lifting of the gate B from its place.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The means, substantially as shown and described, for securing sections of a fence to each other and to the posts 0, viz., the combination of the bars F, recesses a, plate G, and pickets E inserted in the holes and sockets b a.

2. The gate-hinges, formed by bending one end of the connecting and bracingplates H H, respectively, into the form shown at d e, in combination with the bolts 1, substantially as shown and described.

WILLIAM MOST.

Witnesses:

WM. F. MCNAMARA, JOHN ARGES,

JAMES R. WILLIAMs. 

